Although it does not have a long and beautiful coastline like Vung Tau City, Ba Ria City makes visitors remember it because of its full durian gardens next to historical sites, such as Dat Mountain, Thi Vai Mountain, Dinh Mountain, and Long Phuoc Tunnel.
Vietnam is a country famous for having many delicious varieties of durian, commonly grown in the Central Highlands, Mekong Delta, Southeast and South Central Coast. However, enjoying durian in a coastal city in the Southeast, specifically in Long Phuoc Commune, Ba Ria City of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, was truly a surprise.
Compared to Vung Tau or Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in general, tourism in Ba Ria City is not as impressive, because many tourists have long been familiar with famous tourist destinations in Vung Tau, such as beaches around the city, the statue of Jesus, Vung Tau Lighthouse, Nghinh Phong Cape, Bach Dinh, Hon Ba, Ho Tram, and the Robert Taylor ancient weapons museum.
In return, the average annual rainfall in Ba Ria is relatively low, the soil is good (red basalt soil distributed in two communes Hoa Long and Long Phuoc), the temperature is not too different, and very suitable for planting and developing durian trees.
Therefore, when coming to Ba Ria, in addition to some places to visit such as Thi Vai Mountain, Dinh Mountain and especially Long Phuoc Tunnel, tourists can visit the durian garden here.
According to Tu Danh - a garden owner who regularly welcomes groups of visitors, tourists come here to enjoy durian in the garden and buy it as a gift, especially on weekends. Here, tourists can listen to the garden owner talk about how he came to the durian tree or the complete tree care process. The durian trees in Tu Danh's garden are like giant bonsai trees because they are beautifully shaped.
Tu Danh was the first person to have the idea of creating bonsai-style trees like this, after deciding to give up his very successful livestock farm and turn to establishing an orchard in 1996. Having loved durian trees since childhood, he soon realised that durian is a tropical tree that loves light.
Therefore, in addition to planting trees at a reasonable distance to create conditions for the trees to receive a lot of light, he thought it was necessary to divide the light by creating a canopy and dividing the branches. Branches that live longer will produce more fruit with delicious quality.
Thanks to that, for more than 30 years, he has taken care of and pruned the durian garden to become a giant bonsai garden, creating a huge difference between his garden and other households, from the shape of the trees to the yield and quality of the fruit. This place has also become a familiar address for many farmers in the area to visit and learn from experience.
According to the Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Long Phuoc Commune, Nguyen Van Minh, the area of durian in Long Phuoc that is being harvested is 41 hectares.
Visiting the durian garden, combining it with enjoying durian right in the garden, and listening to stories about durian varieties and experiences in growing them is a wonderful travel experience for tourists.
It would be great if the Farmers' Association of the commune connected that experience with garden owners and tourist groups so that anyone who comes to Ba Ria-Vung Tau would feel that they should stop at least once at the durian gardens in Long Phuoc.
